Manga
The manga that were hits in Japan in the 2000s.
2000S HITS
About
One day, Haruhi, a scholarship student at exclusive Ouran High School, breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to the "Host Club," a mysterious campus group consisting of six super-rich (and gorgeous) guys. To pay back the damages, she is forced to work for the club, and it's there that she discovers just how wealthy the boys are and how different they are from everybody else.
Character analysis
Haruhi accidentally shatters a hugely expensive vase belonging to the elite Host Club and is forced to pay off the debt by working as a host herself, initially posing as a boy by accident rather than by any grand plan. Her blunt, unimpressed reaction to the club's absurd wealth is a constant, grounding contrast to everyone around her.
Tamaki plays the role of a princely, overly dramatic host with total sincerity, and underneath the performance is a surprisingly earnest desire to make everyone around him, Haruhi especially, feel valued.
Kyoya handles the Host Club's finances and strategy with a detached, businesslike efficiency that contrasts sharply with Tamaki's theatrics. His seemingly cold exterior occasionally cracks just enough to suggest he cares more about the group than he lets on.
Hikaru and his twin brother perform an exaggerated, faux-incestuous closeness as part of their host act, using their identical appearance to toy with guests and classmates alike. Underneath the act, the story gradually explores how being treated as interchangeable has shaped Hikaru's sense of his own individual identity.
Honey presents himself as sweet and almost toddler-like, with a love of cake and stuffed animals, which makes it a running surprise whenever his serious martial arts background and genuine combat skill briefly surface.
Status evaluation
Elegant, detailed character and costume designs suit the series' wealthy-school setting and comedic exaggeration equally well.
The gender-swap setup and host-club premise are more about episodic charm than a tightly driven plot.
The cast's absurd wealth and theatrical personalities are played for consistent, well-timed comedy.
Individual character backstories add real sentiment beneath the comedy, especially around family and identity.
This is a lighthearted school comedy with nothing frightening in it.
There is no violence in this series.
The ensemble cast is large but stays easy to follow thanks to clear, distinct personalities.
This is a completed, moderate-length series. This figure has not been verified against a current source and should be treated as approximate.
“Paying off a broken vase by cross-dressing as a host sounds like a throwaway gag, and instead it's the setup for one of the genre's most charming casts.”